Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Why 'Hand Up 4 East Africa'?

Why 'Hand Up 4 East Africa'?Having lived and worked in Kenya, and traveled throughout Ethiopia last year I have been especially moved by the devastating famine in East Africa. Moved to find a way to raise awareness and the much needed funds for the victims, the starving women and children forced to walk countless miles in search of food and aid.

How can we Help?My emotional reaction to the images being reported on a few news outlets generated thoughts about how we can help. I contacted my sister, and then Brian, and we threw ideas at each other. We had a clear mission to raise awareness about the victims of the famine, and decided to make it more real to us and those around us by embarking on something that ONLY represented the struggle the East Africans were enduring. After several ideas and discussions, we decided that since starving women and children are trekking countless miles in search of food and aid, walking would be the best representation of the current crisis. And since their trek is arduous we needed to do something arduous. We decide on crossing Michigan from Holland (on the west side of the state, nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan) to Detroit (the city that moved the world, on the eastern edge of the mitten shaped state).

The Route

The needs are now, so we needed to act with urgency. To begin our project, we needed to come up with a theme and campaign that friends, family and new friends could support and learn from. Since I was working in St. Louis, Jessica in Detroit, MI and Brian in Ann Arbor, MI, we used a new collaboration tool Google + hangout along with Google Docs to have a three way video conference and document/update ideas in real time. The question was: Are we committed? The quick answer was.....YES! The next thing to consider was, what should our campaign be called. As Michiganders we always carry the map of our home state wherever we go...our hand. The state of Michigan (at least the lower peninsula...no offense, Yoopers) looks like a mitten so we always refer to our hand to show where we are from in Michigan. It thus came naturally, since we were walking across the state, that we would call the fundraising campaign "Hand Up 4 East Africa". That way we'd always have a map to inform friends of our route.

So we will walk....traversing Michigan...roughly 168 miles starting September 8, 2011 in the hope that we can raise awareness of the famine's victims and to raise funds to provide the urgent and critical aid. Please follow our journey and please share information about the famine with your friends and family. This way, united we can support those in East Africa affected by the worst drought in 60 years.

Follow by Email

About Hand Up 4 E. Africa

We're a group of friends who need your help. Moved by the devastating conditions East Africans are facing, we decided to walk in solidarity with those walking in search of relief. We have a big goal of raising $10k for those facing the perils of drought. Funds raised will go to the relief and development work of Mercy Corps, an international agency working to build secure, productive, and just communities.
As we walk 168 mile across Michigan, your support is vital to our success. Share our story, like us on Facebook, spread the word, donate a dollar, do what you can! The need is great, and we are thankful for your participation.

Contact Us

Important Places to Click

We Walk for East Africa

The Route- 4 days, 174 miles

The Situation

The UN reports that more than 10 million people are threatened by starvation in four countries - Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Somalia is the worst hit, where at least six out of every 10,000 children die daily as a result. While international aid agencies desperately seek access to areas of Somalia rife with political instability and food insecurity, thousands of refugees depart in search of help.

How We Plan to Respond

Our goal is to walk the walk many East Africans trek in search of aid. We walk in solidarity with those who have no other choice. We walk to demonstrate the severity of the situation. We walk to illustrate that drought, political instability, and the resulting food scarcity, malnutrition and threat of death leave families with little other option than to flee blighted land by foot in search of reprieve.

Driven by the current famine in East Africa we walk to raise awareness and resources for the women, children and families affected. Funds raised will go to Mercy Corps, an international aid agency, to support ongoing relief and sustained food security in the region.

To raise much needed funds, beginning September 8 we will walk the distance that many starving and frail East Africans are walking for food and basic aid. We will traverse the state of Michigan ~168 miles from Holland to Detroit (Sept. 8-11). The journey will be blogged about here by the participants to share their reflections along the way.

Our walk pales in comparison to the excruciating passage trekked in the heat of shadeless plains, while sick and hungry. Though we could never truly imagine what it would be like to make a journey to save our lives, we walk in solidarity, and walk for relief and future security.